THE POPPY PAPER Official Monthly Publication of the Boosters of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park A Non-Profit Organization

Transcription

1 THE POPPY PAPER Official Monthly Publication of the Boosters of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park A Non-Profit Organization December 2011 Discover the Holidays at Old Town: Holiday in the Park begins on Saturday, December 10 from 10am until at least 8pm with the Historic Merchants Open House, and continues on Sunday, December 11 with the 61 st Annual Las Posadas procession, starting at 5pm. Throughout the event, the State Historic Park will be adorned with holiday decorations including a live tree in the Seeley Stable, lantern-lit museums, horse drawn wagon rides for a small fee, festive music, and living history activities. Enjoy S mores and gather around a bonfire in the Plaza. Handcrafted original gingerbread houses will be displayed by various merchants. Within the State Historic Park, there are over forty specialty shops, offering products such as candles, decorative tin, jewelry, gems and minerals, ladies fine goods, tobaccos, general store items, coffee & teas, home décor, leather goods, pottery, Native American hand crafts, books, and more. It s a Wonderful Life will be on stage at the Cygnet Theatre. There is also a Park Store at the Robinson-Rose Visitor Information Center offering a variety of crafts and other related products, with proceeds going to the Boosters of Old Town, directly supporting the park s educational programs. If you work up an appetite strolling through the shops, five restaurants offer traditional Mexican and American foods, including children s menus. There are also shops that offer quick snacks including hot and cold beverages, traditional soft pretzels, hot dogs, and empanadas. To keep kids of all ages busy, including during the holidays, tours are offered daily at 11am & 2pm and museums are open from 10am-5pm, including the 1830s adobe townhouse La Casa de Estudillo, La Casa de Machado y Silvas, San Diego s earliest newspaper office, the McCoy House Interpretive Center, a working blacksmith shop, and the Seeley Stables, with exhibits on overland transportation and one of the finest wagon and carriage collections. For a list of stores, events, or additional information, go to or phone Additional event information available at BOOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Jeanne Ferrell (619) Vice President: Gary Turton (619) Secretary: Zulema Franco Treasurer: Deanna Turton (619) BOOT Store: Mary Jones Membership: Shirlee Rodriguez Historian: Bob Wohl Restoration Spec: Chuck Ferrell Web Master: Bob Jones Poppy Paper Ruth French (858) Editor: poppypapereditor@gmail.com Board Members: Mary Ellen Young Tom Young Cindy Furlong BOOT Website: Park Website: pg. 1

2 President s Notes by Jeanne Ferrell Happy Holidays to all of you. This is my favorite time of year. This is a time to reflect on the blessings of family and friends. BOOT is a family of friends. We work together, play together and above all, we laugh together. Not to say we always agree, what family does?? But at the end of the day, (love that saying) we are a family and a team, we have things to do and we act to get them done. We are a diverse group of people who invite you to come and join our family in The BOOT Board met in November and approved our Budget for There are big things coming this year. We are taking on a major project with the advice and help of the Park Staff. We are committing a large sum of money to repair the Machado y Stewart adobe and surrounding area. The project will focus on the following: perimeter fence, horno, fire pit, candle making station, lime washing of the building and other projects as identified. We will continue to support financially many other parts of Park life: The Blacksmiths, Donkeys, Historical Interpretation, Events in the Park, and many others. Among the others, on December 5 th we will again do the shoveling of the compost in the Park gardens. As dedicated BOOT members, we want to nourish all parts of the Park experience. And in 2012, we will help with the CALPA Conference coming to San Diego. Last year, we traveled to Mendocino this year we will welcome Cooperating Associations from across the state to OUR State Historical Park. Details will come in the following months. Merry Christmas to you, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, and a very Happy whatever else you may celebrate. Be safe and happy! Treasurer's Notes by Deanna Turton Although we came out in the red for the month of October, BOOT's checkbook is still in very good shape. So, no worries on that point! Although expenses exceeded income by $ , a great deal of that was due to our annual check of $ to the Park's PCA account which pays for part of the blacksmith and burro handler salaries. Every year, that expense makes the month's accounts look heavy in the expense department. On the income side of the ledger, BOOT is now relying on the BOOT Store, donations, grants, and sales at events for all of its income since the school tours have been taken over by the State Park staff. This month donations were $61.45 a day, which is very good for this time of year. As usual, many thanks to park aides and volunteers who sell things for the BOOT Store. Sales this summer have been especially good, as we had to pay $ in sales taxes for the third quarter. On the expense side of the ledger, the following categories showed expenses higher than $200.00: PCA account (mentioned above) - $4,000.00; third quarter sales taxes - $975.00; BOOT Store inventory replacement - $2,056.71; Poppy Paper printing (2 months) - $219.82; Halloween - $257.14; Burros - $349.00; and period attire bank/subsidies for staff and volunteers - $ In addition, there were 13 other expense categories...many of which were also close to $ At the November BOOT Board Meeting the budget for FY2012 was passed. Although I will let our president tell you about that, I would like to thank all members of the BOOT Board who met on a Saturday, spending several hours reviewing the budget to make adjustments ahead of time. Normally, it takes at least two board meetings to get the votes to pass the budget but this year things went very smoothly! pg. 2

3 By Mary Jones We need cookies to sell on December 10, 2011!!! If you can make cookies for Holiday in the Park, please bring them to the Rob- Rose any day Wed. through Sat., Dec Leave them upstairs on the BOOT table at the top of the stairs. Package your cookies in plastic bags with at least three medium drop cookies or one nice size bar cookie in each bag. We plan to sell each bag for $.50, so use your judgment on size. In addition to selling goodies and drinks, we plan on making cloth dolls with the visitors. Come by the BOOT Store to see our new books on Native Americans of Southern California, and check out the Christmas craft table. Lots of great new items! In Sympathy We extend our sincere condolences to the family of Steve Antis, who recently passed away. Steve and his family were longtime VIPs and BOOT Members who made significant contributions in Old Town and San Pasqual. Our condolences also go out to Margo Bergen, another longtime VIP and BOOT Member, on the passing of her father. Our thoughts and prayers are with you From the Editor s Desk There is MUCH happening in Old Town and San Pasqual in December so highlight your calendars and save this issue of the Poppy Paper as a quick reference to the fun-filled events and activities. Many thanks to those Poppy Paper contributors who made the new deadline this month. As I mentioned last month...my working life, my personal life, and my volunteer life needed new balance and the five extra days did the trick! I was able to enjoy a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday with my family, pack up the fall decorations, get the house decorated for Christmas AND finish the Poppy Paper this past week!!! Happy Holidays and Happy Reading! Ruth French poppypapereditor@gmail.com pg. 3

4 The crafting and sewing committees were very busy on Friday, November 18th preparing for the upcoming holiday season! By Deanna Turton Jeanne Ferrell wood-burned gourds, which Winnie will take home to paint. Jeanne took the remainder home to finish. (Deanna had drawn some beforehand and had intended to wood burn them on her trip, but that did not get finished!) Winnie Adams brought in some beautiful Christmas corn husk dolls and gourd Santas from home. Judy Parent made a double batch of laundry bags for Madeleine Marietti to take home and sew shut. Madeleine and Kim Baldwin made a double batch of sleep pillows for Madeleine to take home and sew shut. Pat Seitas, JoBeth Hull, and Kim worked on tea packets and herb packets, and then made up more mixtures for Zulema Franco to use next week. Zulema completed laminating the recipe cards, and she will come back on Monday to make up more large herb mix packets. Winnie made a beautiful Christmas wreath for the BOOT Store. (It will be entered in the Park merchant's wreath competition.) Zulema helped Deanna pin netting to 48 heart wreaths. Deanna will take them home to sew, and then hand them off to Becky Halliburton, who will stuff and decorate them. JoBeth took home a stack of netting to make round holiday sachets. Mary Jones and JoBeth decorated the store for the Christmas holidays. Becky Halliburton helped with herb packets before she went to help Mary Ellen Young and Roseann Cook with sewing. Many thanks to Mary Ellen Young for feeding everyone; and thanks to Jeanne Ferrell for the wonderful ice cream. We have decided to meet on December 9 th for our normal craft day at 9am, as usual. We would like to develop some new products for the Store. So, crafters have been asked to bring at least one new idea to the January meeting...making sure that it is something that fits into the interpretive message of the Park AND is made with historically correct materials. Of course, you knew that already!!! Pictured: Gourd Madonna (top), Corn Husk Doll (lower left), Dried Flower Arrangement (lower right) pg. 4

5 December 2011 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday *NO VIP or BOOT Board Meetings in December.* HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Volunteer Luncheon 11:30am Cosmopolitan Hotel 4 Battle Day 10am-3:30pm San Pasqual Battle Field State Historic Park 11 Holiday in the Park (see page 1) Las Posadas 5 Garden Group COMPOST SPREADING DAY!!! 12 Garden Group am Crafting/ Sewing Committee Holiday in the Park Native Plant Garden Potluck (see page 6) Garden Group 20 Hanukkah Begins (Sundown) 21 Hanukkah Christmas Eve 25 Christmas Day 26 Kwanzaa Begins New Year s Eve Committee Meetings will be held on the second Saturday of ODD numbered months at the Machado y Silvas Adobe at 10 am. January 14 - March 10 - May 12 - July 14 - September 8 -November 10 Descendant Historical Workshops are scheduled from 11am 3pm and are open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to come to take advantage of private libraries and interact with historians and descendants regarding San Diego History and people. These are presently scheduled for the McCoy House second floor. February 25 - *June 30* - August 25 - November 3 *June 30 will be in conjunction with the Annual Descendant Luncheon details to be announced.* pg. 5

6 Annual Christmas Potluck Let s celebrate another wonderful year of great work in our garden. When? Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 Old Town Native Plant Garden Volunteers Where? Time? To bring? Peter & Raydene s New Place 2341 Whitman Street (across the street from our old house) San Diego, CA Right after our work in Old Town Garden Raydene & Peter will provide hamburgers and soft drinks. Please bring a dish to share and anything else you d like to drink. RSVP Please - rstclair232@cox.net or (619) December Work Party Old Town Native Plant Garden Saturday, December 10, 1-3PM We'll make "shelters" for the little plants we all helped plant on November 19th by harvesting willow stems and bending them over the plants, then attaching ribbons so people won't trample them. Bring a sharp shovel if you have it, and any pruners or snips that you have to help harvest the stems. Come dressed for whatever the weather serves up that day, and sun protection. The Native Plant Garden is located at the corner of Taylor and Congress Streets at the far west end of Old Town State Park. It is right across from the station building of the bus/trolley/train station. If you drive, free parking is available in the parking lot next to the garden - enter from Calhoun Street - or park in the Cal Trans parking lot across Taylor Street. Restrooms are near the garden, and a drinking fountain - bring bottled water if you prefer. After we wrap up at 3pm, Peter and Raydene St. Clair have invited all of us to a potluck at their home in Mission Hills. Peter and Raydene will fix burgers. See Invitation Above. pg. 6

7 Join Us for Compost Spreading Day Monday, December 5, 2011 Monday, December 5th, our garden crew will hold its annual fall Compost Spreading Day. The day begins with Bob Jones and Chuck Ferrell going to the County Compost Center with two trucks and getting in line for service. For only $10, the trucks are loaded with "hot" and "steaming" black compost...what a bargain a better deal is hard to find these days! Depending on the crowd at the County Center, the trucks arrive at the Machado y Stewart Garden shortly before 10am. Then the real work begins!!! Some members of our garden crew start shoveling the compost into wheelbarrows while other members roll the wheelbarrows into the garden. After dumping the compost at designated locations, the whole process continues until both trucks are empty. With everyone helping, this normally takes about 90 minutes to two hours. This year, we will place the compost around the trees in the orchard and the herb garden at the Machado y Stewart, and around the herb garden behind the Machado y Silvas. The McCoy pods do not need compost at this time because we worked in that area this past summer. Deanna promises to bake some goodies, so the crew can have a small party when the job is completed. Please come if you have an hour or so to spare WE WILL PUT YOU TO WORK! We have a wonderful garden crew that everyone will enjoy meeting. The only thing we request - DO NOT wear good clothes or period attire. You might also want to bring a pair of gloves. We will provide the shovels and wheelbarrows. MEMBERSHIP NEWS Thank you to Charlotte Perry and to William and Marjorie McLaren for their membership renewals this month. BOOT also welcomes Gum Saan and Miner s Gems and Minerals to our growing list of Corporate Members. Your support is appreciated! WELCOME NEW CORPORATE MEMBERS! pg. 7

8 THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS! YOUR BUSINESS AD HERE!!! See back cover for details. pg. 8

9 POPPY PAPER SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Park Staff: Submit to Volunteers: Submit to ALL OTHER SUBMISSIONS may be sent directly to: DEADLINE: 20 th of each month (handwritten deadline is the 15 th Please drop in Ruth French s volunteer folder in the Robinson-Rose Bldg.) If you do not desire any editing of your article, adherence to the following is mandatory: FONT TYPE AND SIZE: Times New Roman (12) STYLE: single spaced with a double space between paragraphs (not indented) LENGTH: 400 words or less NOTE: Submissions that exceed 400 words are likely to be edited for length and clarity. Exceedingly longer articles may be divided and published in consecutive editions of the Paper. Inclusion of articles is on a space-available, first-come basis and at the editor's discretion. Volunteer Opportunities Old Town San Diego State Historic Park has many volunteer opportunities available! Please contact Volunteer Coordinator, Joe Vasquez jvasquez@parks.ca.gov OR Include the below information with your BOOT Membership Application (on the reverse side): I am most interested in volunteering for: Special Events (Ladies Day, 4 th of July, Fiestas Patrias, etc.) BOOT Store Tour Guide Living History Crafts Museums/Interpretive Programs Other I belong to the following group(s): Docent Military Descendants Californios Other pg. 9

10 BOOSTERS OF OLD TOWN San Diego State Historic Park 4002 Wallace Street San Diego, CA NOTICE: If you have a friend who would like to learn more about San Diego History, enjoys meeting people, and likes to have a good time, give him/her this application form to fill out and send in. New members are always welcome. And, if you have forgotten to renew your membership it s never too late to send it in. We miss you! MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION $ Single Supporting Member $ Corporate Membership* $ Family (2 or more individuals) (includes business card sized ad in the Poppy Paper $ Senior (62+ years)/student Single and on our website for one month) $ Senior Couple (62+ years $ Enhanced Corporate Membership* $ Life Member (62+ years) (includes business card sized ad in the Poppy Paper and on our website for 12 months) *Corporate Applications Only: Please enclose a business card or corporate logo with your payment. NAME(S) ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE I belong to the following group(s): Docent Military Descendants Californios I am also interested in volunteer opportunities, please contact me! Make your check out to BOOT and mail to: BOOT Membership Committee, 4002 Wallace Street, San Diego, CA pg. 10